Measles cases in the United States have increased substantially in 2024, with cases currently on pace to spike by over 800%.
Reported cases across the country have been trending much higher than in 2023, as the CDC reported that there have been 97 total cases across 17 states thus far. Although the CDC did not specify how many cases were reported in each jurisdiction, two states have accounted for the majority of reported cases this year.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (DPH) says on its website that there have been 52 confirmed cases of measles in 2024 as of March 31, more than the total number of cases logged in the state between 2015 and 2023.
During this nine-year period, DPH states that there were a total of 38 reported cases, with zero cases being reported in four of these years.
The majority of the confirmed cases in Illinois this year have come from Chicago, with the city logging 33 cases, as reported by NewsNation.
Many of these cases stemmed from a reported outbreak in a city-run unlawful migrant shelter, prompting Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to update the city’s requirements for those staying in the shelter.
Moving forward, all migrants who stay in a city-run shelter will be required to receive vaccinations for multiple viruses, including measles, according to NewsNation.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed there have been 11 confirmed cases this year.
DeSantis defended the actions taken by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who advised parents they could continue to send their children to school during a measles outbreak in February.
“Now you see 30 cases in Chicago with illegal aliens. I don’t hear the same carping from the media. In fact, they’re not talking about it really very much at all. So, it just goes to show you, you know, the phony narratives that get put out all to drive a phony agenda,” he said, according to the Florida Phoenix.
“The fact of the matter is, they kind of whip it up, and then when things go a different direction from what they [were] predicting, they just forget that it ever happened and then they just move on,” he said.
Although the number of reported measles cases is high compared to the previous four years, the United States had a record-high number of cases in 2019, with the CDC reporting a total of 1,274 cases throughout the year.
The number of cases in 2019 was the highest yearly total since 2000, with the second-highest number of reported cases coming in 2014 when the CDC confirmed 667 cases.
